Dubai Property Taxes for Polish Investors
Let me start with the most important thing, because this is a post about money and law. What you’re reading is for information only and is not tax advice. Your situation depends on your individual circumstances, and the rules change. Before you make a decision, consult a tax advisor. I’m a broker, not an advisor, and that’s exactly why I say this plainly instead of pretending I know the answer to your specific case.
Brokers in Dubai love the slogan “zero percent tax.” On the Emirati side, that’s largely true. For you, as a Polish tax resident, the picture is entirely different — and you won’t find that in the brochure. Let’s unpack it calmly.
What you actually pay on the Emirati side
Let’s start with what’s true. The United Arab Emirates levies no personal income tax and no capital gains tax. If you rent out an apartment privately and sell it as an individual, on the Emirati side there really is no income tax. That’s a genuine advantage of this market, and I have no intention of downplaying it.
But “zero” is an oversimplification. There’s a municipal charge, the so-called housing fee, 5 percent of the annual rental value, collected through your utility bill. There’s VAT at 5 percent, which applies to things like service charges and short-term rentals. There’s a 9 percent corporate tax, which as a rule doesn’t touch an individual renting privately but does come up with business activity or a company. So “zero tax” doesn’t mean “zero costs.”
Why a Polish resident still settles Dubai income in Poland
This is the crux of it. If you live in Poland, have your family or business here, or spend most of the year here, you are a Polish tax resident. And that means unlimited tax liability — you settle your worldwide income in Poland, including income from Dubai.
Why doesn’t the double taxation treaty protect you? Because it works differently from what people commonly assume. The treaty between Poland and the Emirates was amended by a protocol from 2013, which entered into force on 1 May 2015. That protocol changed the settlement method from the favorable exemption method to the proportional deduction (credit) method. (As an aside, you often hear that the MLI convention changed this — that’s inaccurate. The MLI only added anti-abuse clauses; the method was changed by the earlier bilateral protocol.)
What does that mean in practice? You report your Dubai income in Poland, and you can deduct from your Polish tax the tax paid in the Emirates. Except in the Emirates you paid no tax on the rental. So you have nothing to deduct. And you pay the full Polish tax. A mechanism meant to prevent double taxation, when tax in Dubai is zero, simply means full taxation in Poland.
Rental income, i.e. flat-rate (lump-sum) tax of 8.5 and 12.5 percent
Private rental is settled in Poland under the flat-rate (lump-sum) rental tax: 8.5 percent up to PLN 100,000 of revenue per year (spouses jointly up to PLN 200,000) and 12.5 percent on the excess. Watch the word “revenue” — this is not profit. You pay on the entire rent, with no deduction for service charge or other costs.
Formally: a PIT-28 return (annual flat-rate tax return) by 30 April of the following year, with a PIT/ZG annex (foreign income) for income earned abroad. With annual rent of around PLN 93,000, the 8.5 percent flat-rate tax comes to about PLN 7,900 payable in Poland, despite the “zero” in Dubai.
Sale, i.e. the five-year rule
Here’s the good news that few people mention. If you sell the property after five years have passed, counted from the end of the year in which you acquired it, you pay no tax on the sale in Poland. The same rule that applies to apartments in Poland applies to foreign ones too. The common claim that “foreign property is always taxable” is inaccurate.
If, however, you sell before five years have passed, you’ll pay 19 percent on the income — that is, the difference between the sale price and the purchase price — on a PIT-39 form. There’s a trap with off-plan purchases: the moment of “acquisition” can be disputed. The most cautious approach is to count the five years from the issuance of the deed of ownership at handover of the apartment, not from the reservation agreement. This is worth securing with an individual tax ruling, because for off-plan property abroad there is no clear-cut line.
Abolition relief won’t help
The question that always comes up: what about abolition relief? Unfortunately, no. Since 2021 it has been capped by a limit (PLN 1,360) and, more importantly, the act expressly excludes rental and the sale of real estate from it. It sounds like a lifeline, but with real estate it simply doesn’t work.
“But the tax office won’t find out”
That’s a line from 2015. Today it’s false. The Emirates participate in the automatic exchange of tax information (CRS) and share data with Poland; the first data reached the Polish tax authorities for the 2018 period. Cash flows from rental and from a sale on an Emirati account may be visible. Failing to report income means arrears, interest, and the risk of fiscal-penal liability. It’s not worth it.
Tax residence, the only real way out, but harder than they say
There is a way to legally not pay in Poland: stop being a Polish tax resident. But that’s not the same as buying an apartment, or even as obtaining a Golden Visa. A residence visa does not automatically make you a tax resident.
What decides it is your centre of vital interests. If your family, home, and business stay in Poland, you remain a Polish tax resident, even if you bought an apartment in Dubai and hold a Golden Visa. Genuinely relocating your tax residence means relocating the center of your life, not just your address. The good news is that authorities’ rulings from 2024 and 2025 (including a ruling dated 16 June 2025) confirm that you can lose Polish tax residence even without an Emirati certificate of residence — which for a Pole is practically unavailable anyway — provided you properly document the relocation of your centre of vital interests. It’s always an individual assessment.
What this post does not settle
I deliberately don’t give answers here to questions that depend on your specific situation: how to count the five years for your off-plan purchase, whether your rental is still private rental or already a business, and whether and when you’ll genuinely relocate your tax residence. These are questions for a tax advisor who knows both jurisdictions, and that’s exactly the kind of advisor I connect my clients with, instead of pretending I’ll settle it myself in an article.
I talk about taxes on the first conversation, not the sixth. Because I’d rather you know the real bill before you buy than feel blindsided a year later.
I’ve put together a list of eight questions worth asking a tax advisor before buying property in Dubai. Write to me and I’ll send it over, and if you’d like, I’ll set you up with an advisor who knows the Poland–Emirates interface.
This material is for information purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. The legal status and interpretations may change, as of June 2026. Before making a decision, consult a tax advisor or obtain an individual tax ruling.